The Order of the Stag
by Littlefinger
Summary: After Ginny is turned into a statue, Harry joins forces with 6 other witches and wizards to form the Order of the Stag, which becomes an elite, top secret organization whose goal is to defeat Voldemort and acquire the information necessary to cure Ginny.
1. Salim's House

This story is a mature Harry Potter fanfiction. It takes place a few years after the end of the sixth book, so Harry is an adult in the story. The story is sort of his journey to becoming a dark wizard. He starts off good and by the end of the story he'll be more evil than Voldemort. I plan on writing several chapters to this story and putting forth high quality chapters on a regular basis. I made the character's thoughts in italix so that readers can tell the difference. That's about all for now. Have fun reading this story.

**  
Salim's House**

"We're here," Harry said, as he stared down the street at a line of simple adobe brick houses on each side.

"Which house is it?" Ginny asked.

"Hmmm...He said that it would have a red ribbon tied to it's doorknob, so let's search for one."

They carried their broomsticks as they walked down the street, eyeing the doorknob of each house, until they found the right one towards the end of the street. Harry walked up to it and knocked 2 times, then paused for a few seconds, knocked 1 one time, then paused, then knocked 3 times. The door immediately opened and a portly man with a long mustache and a cream colored robe with a red sash around his waist stood inside, looking very anxious.

"Ah! Mr. Potter, you're early. I expected you at midnight," he said in a strained whisper as he quickly ushered them inside. Harry and Ginny were immediately taken aback as they entered. From the outside, the house looked no different than any of the other simple ones that lined the street. However, they were standing in a vast and luxuriously decorated room filled with hundreds of items that covered the floors, walls, and the ceiling. There were also dozens doors along the walls, and a spiraling staircase that disappeared into the ceiling.

Noticing the astonished looks on their faces, the portly man said, "I'm glad that you like it. I'm somewhat of a collector, and these are some of the items I have acquired throughout my life."

"It's marvelous!" said Ginny.

"Thank you my dear" he said while beaming, and gestured for them to sit on some of his plush cushions.

"Err..thanks Salim, but we're kinda pressed for time," Harry said.

"But, ofcourse! We must not delay. Just give me a few minutes to prepare myself," he said and walked off towards a large, old mirror that was leaning against a wall. He stepped inside of it and immediately stepped back out wearing a brown cloak and carrying a scroll and broomstick. "Sorry that I took so long. I had difficulty finding this scroll among all of the others," Salim said.

"But, you weren't even gone a second," Harry said. Both he and Ginny had puzzled looks on their faces.

"I wasn't? Oh..that's right! I forgot that time moves slower on the other side. This mirror is rather special, the only one in existence."

"What's it do?" asked Ginny.

"It does a lot of things, but mainly it provides me with extra space to put my things. I found it during one of my tomb explorations. The inscription says that it was created by Merlin himself!"

"So it acts sort of like the room of requirement?" asked Harry.

"The what you say?" said a confused Salim.

"Err..sorry! Forgot that you didn't go to Hogwarts. Well, the room of requirement would appear in Hogwarts for those who needed it for their own purposes. Ginny and I, as well as a group of Hogwarts students used to use it for meetings while we were there."

"No, this one doesn't appear and disappear. It's always there when I need to put something in or take something out. Time works differently inside of there. A few hours here is equal to months inside of there, although your body won't notice the difference. When you come back out, it'll be like you only spent a few hours rather than a few months. That's why it seemed to you like I was only in there a second before I came out," Salim said.

"That's amazing!" said Harry, with a genuine look of wonder.

"Yes, it is. But, there is a big risk involved as well. If the mirror is broken from the outside while you are inside of it, you'll be stuck on the other side forever! Don't worry though, I've shielded it against most magical and physical spells. And, I always make sure to spend less than an hour at a time inside of there so that no one has a chance to damage it while I'm inside. Can't be too cautious, especially in these times," he said in an ominous voice.

They stood staring at a each other for a few seconds, and Harry regained his prior sense of urgency.

"We really should be.."

"Ofcourse, Harry. I won't delay you two any longer. Let's depart!"

And with that, they were off, flying through the desert night on their broomsticks.


	2. The Horcrux

**The Horcrux**

After dozens of minutes of silently flying over the Egyptian desert, Salim finally descended towards the ground. They were standing infront of a large rockface with four large statues of a seated man on either sides of a large entrance.  
"Where are we?" asked Ginny.

"What do you mean, where are we? Don't they teach you anything at Hogwart? This is the Temple of Ramses II, one of the greatest pharaohs and wizards to ever live!"

"He was a wizard?" asked Harry.

"Yes, and a direct ancestor of Salazar Slytherin." responded Salim.

"I didn't realize that the Slytherin line extended that far back," Harry said in a surprised voice.

"They were not called Slytherins at that time ofcourse, but they still shared common traits."

"Like speaking parseltongue?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Ramses II never went anywhere without a snake coiled around his arm or waist." responded Salim.

"Amazing!" said Harry.

"Don't look so shocked. Greatness comes from greatness. You would do well to remember that." he said reproachfully.

"Now, I will only lead you to where I left..him, and then we must part ways."

"Left who?" asked Ginny, looking somewhat annoyed that Harry had been so secretive about their excursion.

"Voldemort," Harry said, ignoring the gasp that escaped Salim's mouth.

"You mean that Voldemort was here???" said a shocked Ginny.

"Yes, according to Salim."

"I didn't not say that! You're assuming too much," said Salim.

"You told me that he asked you to escort him inside," responded Harry.

"I said that a suspicious looking man asked me to escort him inside. You assumed it was he who must not be named."

"A suspicious looking man with a snakelike face you said, or was that a lie?" responded Harry, now somewhat annoyed.

"Now listen here! Salim does not lie in his business dealings. It is true that he had a snakelike face, but that is as much as he revealed to me. He didn't tell me his name or why he wanted to visit the temple. Not that I would have asked anyways; especially considering how much he paid me."

"That sounds a lot like Voldemort to me," responded Harry.

"Well..."

"Will you two let it go!" shouted Ginny. Both Harry and Salim turned to look at her, as if noticing her for the first time.

"Ofcourse..sorry. Let's enter then," Salim said as he led them inside.

They travelled through corridors covered with hieroglyphics, using their wands to light the way. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Salim stoped infront of a statue of a large snake.

"This is where he and I parted ways, and sadly where I part company with you," said Salim.

"Right, thanks for everything Salim," responded Harry, his eyes transfixed on the snake.

"Ahem.." said Salim, after a moment's pause.

"Oh that's right, the payment! Sorry, that I almost forgot," said Harry as he pulled a large purse filled with galleons out of his robes and handed it to Salim. "It's all there."

For the first time that night, Salim had a genuine look of happiness in his eyes. "Excellent, excellent! It's a pleasure to do business with you. Keep in touch," and with that he turned around and headed back the way they came.

"Can't say that I'm not glad he's gone," said Ginny after he disappeared down the corridor.

"I don't like him much either, but he has been a tremendous help," said Harry.

"Do you really think that Voldemort placed a Horcrux here?" asked Ginny.

"I believed there was a good chance of that when Salim told me his story about escorting a snakelike man here nearly 20 years ago. Now that I know that Voldemort is a direct descendent of Ramses II, I'm positive that he placed a Horcrux here. The only question now is where he put it?" Harry said as he ran a hand along the statue of the snake.

"Maybe you're suppose to push the statue?" said Ginny.

"No, I doubt that." responded Harry.

"Why not?"

"Because Voldemort would not make it that easy for others to find his Horcrux. It has to be a spell or..." he broke off, as he walked around the statue to examine it further.

Harry tried casting a few spells on the statue to see if it would move, or if he could damage it, but failed. However, now he was absolutely sure that Voldemort or atleast some wizard had tampered with this statue.

"Why don't you try speaking to it in parseltongue?" said Ginny.

"Great idea Ginny! That must be it."

"Open," he said in parseltongue, but nothing happened.

"I command you to open!" he said loudly, but still nothing.

"Hmm...I wonder what sort of command...wait that's right! I almost forgot about the blood," he said.

"Blood? What blood?" asked Ginny.

"It's been so long since the last time I retrieved a Horcrux that I forgot about the blood sacrifice. I have to spill some of my blood onto it to activate it." he responded as he took out a small dagger from inside his robes.

"Ok, but be careful," warned Ginny.

"Don't worry, I'll only make a small cut," Harry said as he carefully slid the blade against his palm, causing blood to trickle down his forearm. He then rubbed some of the blood ontop of the snake statue's head and stepped back.

"I command you to open!" he said and the snake sprung to life, immediately lunging itself at Harry, with it's fangs bared.


	3. Ginny Slain

**Ginny Slain**

"Watch out!" Ginny screamed as she shoved Harry out of the snake's path.

Harry collapsed to the ground and suddenly everything went dark. His hands instinctively reached into his robes to retrieve his wand, and he yelled "Luminios!"

The corridor they were in lit up to reveal a statue of Ginny Weasley standing in the same way she had when she pushed him. Her eyes and mouth were opened wide in a look of sheer terror.

Harry stood frozen for a moment and then yelled, "No!!!", as he ran over to where she stood. "Don't worry Ginny, I'll get you some help he said with a sense of desperation. Just then remembering the snake, he quickly glanced around the corridor for it, but it was nowhere to be found.

_Maybe it's still attached to her body_, he thought.

He circled around her body, and was relieved to find that it wasn't attached to her. Only then did he spot what looked like a golden scepter laying on the floor next to Ginny. Not wanting to take any risks, he took off his cloak and used it to wrap up the scepter, so that his skin wouldn't come in contact with it. He then grabbed onto Ginny's arm and focused as hard as he could on his destination, managing to apparate immediately.

Harry could not stand to be in the hospital room any longer. The Weasleys had arrived 30 minutes prior and were lamenting the loss of their sister. Everything seemed to happen so fast. He brought Ginny to St. Mungo's Hospital after which it seemed like seconds before Bill, George, Fred, and Ron entered and rushed into the room Ginny was in.

Even now, he could hear their loud sobs, as he leaned against a wall in the corridor outside of the room. He banged his fist against the wall, and cursed himself.

_How could this happen? _

_This happened because of you!_

_I didn't know the snake would…_

_But I let her come with me.. I should have refused her!_

_I'm the one to blame for her…no…not death. She can't be dead. _

_I won't allow her to die…I'll find some way to bring her back. I can't afford to lose her._

_I'll reverse the magic or poison somehow…_

_Yes! I will do it. I will bring her back and everything will be as it was._

As his thoughts stopped he once again registered the sounds of crying in Ginny's room. Harry felt a pang of guilt and re-entered the room. Bill and Ron were sobbing into each other's shoulders while Fred and George stood staring at the statue of Ginny with tears in their eyes.

Harry comforted them until the tears stopped and they finally asked him what happened. He had just finished telling them every detail of what had happened in the temple when a senior healer came in to tell them that he and his colleagues had never before seen, read, or heard about Ginny's condition. They could not think of anything that would bring her back from such a state.

"But there has to be a way!" said Harry.

"There might be, but it's highly unlikely. The chances of finding a way to cure her condition are not very good. We will keep her here for the next few days and run some tests on her, but I would not get your hopes up," said the healer.

"You're wrong! She's not dead. I'll bring her back!" Harry almost shouted.

Ron put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down and said, "I know she meant a lot to you Harry, but.."

"But nothing. I will cure her Ron. Just give me some time. Don't allow them to bury her or do anything damaging. I will be back soon," Harry said, standing up.

"Where will you go?" asked Bill.

"I'm going back to Egypt. I need to fetch an item."

"What item?" Ron asked, but before he could get the words out Harry had already disappeared from the room.


	4. The Order of the Stag

**At the Burrow**

"How long has he been in there?" asked Hermione, who had just arrived back from Hogwarts.

"Three hours now," responded Ron. He was seated on a chair next to a large mirror in the Burrow.

"So that would be nearly a year's time there right?" she said.

"I think so. He told me that an hour here is about 4 months there. I've done a year's worth of guard duty in 3 hours?" he said jokingly.

"It's not healthy for him to be alone in there for that long," she said, frowning.

"Well, he seemed fine the last time he came back out, although he looked rather frustrated. I think he hasn't made much progress since he started yesterday. I've never seen him this determined though," responded Ron.

"It's very noble of him, but I still think it's a waste of his efforts. I've consulted with some of the foremost witches and wizards that each have expert knowledge of the dark arts, and none of them have seen anything like this. I fear it's…", but she was broken off by the sudden appearance of Harry through the mirror. He stepped into the room, looking frustrated and angry.

"How'd it go mate?" asked Ron, but he already knew the answer.

"Terrible. I've searched in every single book dealing with dark arts and magical creatures that I could get my hands on, and there's not a single mention of Ginny's condition, except for a few snippets on basilisks."

"What if it is a basilisk mate?" asked Ron.

"It couldn't be," responded Hermione.

"Why not?" Ron asked, looking somewhat irritated that she had dismissed his idea so quickly, but still curious to find out her thoughts.

"All of the accounts of basilisks I've read about say that they can only petrify their victims, not transform them into stone. Also, the basilisk that was in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts did not transform any of it's victims into stone. Not to mention also that.."

"Ok, ok I get it!" said Ron.

Ignoring him, Hermione turned to Harry and said, "Are you planning on going back in there?"

"Ofcourse," he responded, as if she was mad to think otherwise. "I just need to try harder."

"You've tried as hard as you can Harry. This is not a simple matter. Voldemort had more knowledge of magic than even Dumbledore, so you can't possibly expect to.."

"What? So you think that it's impossible to undue her condition just because Voldemort was the one to cast the spell or curse or whatever?" he said in an irritated voice.

"No, that's not what I meant. I just think that it might be easier to get answers from the source…"

"Oh right, like Harry can just prance up to Voldemort and asked him what spell he used on Ginny?" said Ron with a chuckle.

Hermione gave Ron a vicious look, and he immediately quieted. "He won't just give you the answers you want, ofcourse. You'll have to force it out of him."

"Hermione, you couldn't possibly be suggesting?"

"The cruciatus curse! Ofcourse!" said Harry, with a look of pure joy on his face.

"But that's forbidden," responded Ron.

"Come on Ron! I don't think a jury in the world would convinct me for using it on Voldemort. Besides, he deserves it for all of the pain he's put other people through. And, if it'll get me the answers that I need, then it's a sacrifice that I have to make." Said Harry.

"I still don't like the idea. I don't think Ginny would want you to stoop down to his level for her. She wouldn't approve," said Ron.

"Don't you want Ginny back? She was..err..is your sister Ron. You can't let her stay like that. We have to bring her back, no matter what the price," Harry responded.

"Even if you wanted to, it's not likely that you could defeat him alone," said Ron.

"He'll have help ofcourse!" said Hermione.

"No, I wont. I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me," said Harry.

"Oh come off it! You and I both know that Ginny was fully aware of the dangers in going with you to find that Horcrux Harry. Don't belittle her sacrifice by wallowing in self pity. She sacrificed her life to save yours, and it was a worthy sacrifice. If she hadn't been there, then you would have died and then we wouldn't have stood a chance against Voldemort. Don't forget that it's you who has to defeat him, not any of us," she said.

"So, if it's me that has to defeat him then I should do it alone," Harry responded, with a defiant look on his face.

"No one can accomplish such a task on their own Harry. Even Dumbledore could not defeat Voldemort by himself and he was perhaps the greatest wizard of our era. You need our help, even if you don't want it. In fact, you need more help then even we can offer," she said.

"What are you getting at?" said Harry.

"I've been thinking, that maybe we should start our own order of sorts. A group of wizards and witches dedicated to the destruction of Voldemort," she said.

"We've tried that already remember? The Order of the Phoenix got us nowhere," Harry responded.

"That's because it was poorly planned. Dumbledore brought in too many people, so there were issues with trust and secrecy, not to mention also that he was gone most of the time. I think we could accomplish more with a small group of people we trust. Also, we can use your mirror so that we can gain an extra amount of time to increase our skills in offensive and defensive magic," said Hermione.

"That's a brilliant idea Hermione!" said Ron, looking at Harry for support.

"How many people do you think would be enough," said Harry, who also thought it was an ingenious idea but did not let it show.

"I think seven is a good number. There are seven Horcruxes, so an elite group of seven wizards would be symbolically meaningful, and easier to manage. And, I've already come up with a list of names of people we know who could do it," she said, looking positively pleased with herself.

"Who?" said Harry and Ron together.

"Well, I think that we should select people from our year, because we know them well and can trust them. All of the people I have selected have the necessary qualities required of this task, such as courage and loyalty. They all also happen to have been members of the DA: Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and the three of us would make seven.

"I understand the others, but Luna and Neville?" said Ron in a shocked voice.

"Don't be so surprised. They both showed incredible improvement in a short amount of time during our DA meetings. Besides, Neville could have been the boy who lived, and Luna knows more than you think," she responded.

"Even so, Luna and Neville? Ron said, with a smirk on his face.

"Oh shutup Ron! Besides, it doesn't matter what you think, it's Harry's decision. So, what do you say Harry?" she said. She and Ron both watched him quietly as he thought it over.

"I'm in," he said and Hermione gave a cry of joy and leaped into his arms to give him a hug.

"Err..right so what shall we call it?" Harry asked, and they all paused to think.

"How about the Order of the Stag, since your Patroneous is a stag Harry?" said Ron.

"That's it Ron!" shouted Hermione, and they all laughed.


End file.
